Unic Press UK: The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply worried about the late diagnosis of cancer and a high cost of treatment. The total annual economic cost of cancer was estimated at $1.16 trillion in 2010.
“To meet the cancer needs of developing countries, we need around 10,000 additional radiation oncologists, 6,000 medical physicists, 3,000 dosimetrists and 20,000 radiation therapists,” (Director-General of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano in Vienna during an event related to the World Cancer Day: February 2017).
In high-income countries, the treatment for cancer patients who were diagnosed early had been two to four times less expensive in comparison to treating people diagnosed with cancer at a more advanced stage. So, a lot of lives and money could be saved if a mechanism for early diagnosis of cancer is established/implemented, said the World Health Organization (WHO). Circa 8.8 million people die from cancer each year.
WHO, one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, advocated for a rapid approach toward strengthening/equipping health services and training more health workers in the light of its findings cum the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) position that there’s an estimated shortage of 5,000 radiotherapy machines throughout the world.
